Tag Archives: fall

Mitch McConnell: Falls, “Freezes,” and the Brain

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) returned to the Capitol on September 14, casting his first vote since June to advance the nomination of Matthew Byrne as a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Ohio. “Time to get back to work, finish the job of this Congress,” he told reporters.

Gray-haired senator speaking at a podium bearing the United States seal

McConnell has a history of injury and unusual behavior, including repeated falls, like that in 2023 that resulted in a concussion and rib fracture, and several public “freezing” episodes. The June incident, which left him briefly unconscious, has renewed questions about his fitness for office and the brain health of aging leaders, in general. However, his July statement noted that doctors found no concussion, stroke, or hemorrhage from the fall in June.

The Senator’s office attributes his prolonged recovery partly to “the lingering effects of childhood polio.” NLM-published studies, available to view in the PubMed database, reports that polioencephalitis, a rare medical condition of brain inflammation, was found in every examined case of polio, even those without evidence of damage to spinal motor neurons. Studies have also found that PPS, post-polio syndrome, which can have such effects as progressive weakness and fatigue, can occur decades after the infection.

Franklin D. Roosevelt at his Warm Springs, Georgia, retreat, 1936.

A good example of how polio does not necessarily affect one’s mental capabilities is President Franklin D. Roosevelt – polio may have left him in a wheelchair, but he is still considered one of America’s greatest presidents. Fortunately, polio has been considered eradicated in the United States, and North America and South America, since 1979.  

However, the concerns about McConnell’s falls extend beyond politics. According to the CDC, falls are the leading cause of traumatic brain injury among adults 65 and older, with those 75 and up facing the highest hospitalization rates. As lawmakers increasingly serve into their eighties, including McConnell and 5 other senators – who are affiliated with both the Democrat and Republican Caucuses – physicians and voters alike are weighing how aging affects cognition, resilience, and public service.

Protecting the Male Brain in June

This week – June 15–21, 2026 – is International Men’s Health Week, the days leading up to and including Father’s Day. In America, the entire month of June marks Men’s Health Month. Begun in 1994 as an observance of National Men’s Health Week, it was created by a Senate Joint Resolution from Senator Bob Dole and Congressman Bill Richardson and signed by President Clinton on May 31, 1994; it later grew into a month-long observation. International Men’s Health Week was launched in 2002 by the Men’s Health Network at the 2nd World Congress on Men’s Health in Vienna, Austria. Both aim to raise awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment among men and boys. The 2026 U.S. theme is “Partners in Care: For Better Lifespans Across the Lifespan.”

The CDC reports that males are nearly twice as likely as females to be hospitalized for a traumatic brain injury and nearly three times as likely to die from one. A 2025 PubMed-available study found that men died from TBI at more than three times the rate of women (30.5 vs. 9.4 per 100,000 in 2021). Falls are the leading cause, but men disproportionately suffer TBIs from motor-vehicle crashes, assaults, and self-harm; a 2025 Swiss study, also available on PubMed, found 73.3% of ICU TBI patients were male. This month, the CDC urges men, and all people, to buckle up every ride, wear helmets, avoid alcohol-impaired driving, and take steps to prevent falls.